Storage apparatus

ABSTRACT

An improved storage apparatus includes a plurality of drawers or trays which are slidably mounted on a pair of storage racks. The storage racks are spaced apart and face or open toward each other so that a carriage can open a closed drawer by pulling it outwardly of one of the storage racks while simultaneously therewith closing an open drawer by pushing it into the other storage rack. The carriage is advantageously moved between the storage racks by a cable drive assembly.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Harry A. George Kent, Ohio [2l] Appl.No. 857,682 [22) Filed Sept. l5, 1969 [45] Patented June 8, 1971 [73]Assignee The Lamson & Sessions Co.

[54] STORAGE APPARATUS l0 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. [52] 2l l/ 1.5 [5 l lA47f 3/08 [50] 2l l/ l .5, 162; 3l2/l27, 310, 330, 295

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,983,386 5/1961 Miller 2ll/l.5

Ill 3,583,569

3,103,396 9/1963 2ll/l.5X 3,139,090 6/1964 l29/l6.l 3,383,l47 5/1968 2ll/l.5X 3,465,897 9/l969 2l l/l62X Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr.Alrorney- Yount and Tarolli ABSTRACT: An improved storage apparatusincludes a plurality of drawers or trays which are slidably mounted on apair of storage racks. The storage racks are spaced apart and face oropen toward each other so that a carriage can open a closed drawer bypulling it outwardly of one of the storage racks while simultaneouslytherewith closing an open drawer by pushing it into the other storagerack. The carriage is advantageously moved between the storage racks bya cable drive assembly.

STORAGE APPARATUS The present invention relates generally to a storageapparatus and more particularly to a storage apparatus which includes aplurality of drawers or trays for holding material to be stored and acarriage for opening and closing the drawers.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and im provedapparatus for compactly storing materials on trays or drawers which aremovable between a closed condition for storing the materials and an opencondition to enable materials to be removed from and deposited into thedrawers.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedstorage apparatus which includes a pair of rack assemblies for holding aplurality of drawers which are movable between open and closedconditions and a carriage which is movable between the rack assembliesto close an open drawer of one of the rack assemblies whilesimultaneously therewith opening a closed drawer ofthe other rackassembly.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedstorage apparatus in accordance with the next preceding object whereinthe carriage assembly is moved relative to the rack assemblies byoperation of a cable drive arrangement.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedapparatus for storing materials in a pair of rack assemblies disposed ina spaced apart relationship and opening toward each other, a pluralityof drawers slidably mounted in each of the rack assemblies for movementbetween a closed condition within the rack assemblies and an opencondition extending outwardly from the rack assemblies, and a carriagemeans which is movable in a first direction along a track extendingbetween the rack assemblies to move a drawer associated with one of therack assemblies to the closed condition while simultaneously therewithmoving a drawer associated with the other rack assembly toward the opencondition.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become moreapparent upon a consideration of the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a partially broken away perspective view of a material storageapparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken away plan view of the storage apparatus ofFIG. l, illustrating the relationship between a storage assembly forholding drawers of material and a carriage for opening and closing thedrawers;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a coupling for connecting adrawer of the storage assembly of FIG. 2 with the carriage;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevational view, taken generally along a line 4-4of FIG. 3, further illustrating the relationship between the couplingand the carriage, the coupling being shown in solid lines in a locked orengaged condition and in dashed lines in a released or unlockedcondition;

FIG. 5 is a broken away schematic illustration of a cable drivearrangement for moving the carriage relative to the storage assembly;and

FIG. 6 is a broken away sectional view of a support and guide rollerarrangement for a drawer or tray ofthe storage assembly of FIG. 2.

A material storage apparatus l0 forming a specific preferred embodimentof the present invention is illustrated in FIG. l and includes a pair ofsubstantially identical storage assemblies 12 and 14 which are spacedapart and face or open toward each other. The storage assembly l2includes a rack assembly or framework I8 and a plurality ofsubstantially identical drawers or trays which are movable between aclosed condition vertically aligned within the rack assembly 18 and anopen condition in which they extend out ofthe rack assembly. The storageassembly 14 is ofthe same construction as the storage assembly I2 andincludes a rack assembly or framework 24 for supporting a plurality ofdrawers 26A carriage or buggy 30 is movable along floor mounted tracksor rails 32 and 34 to move the drawers 20 and 26 between the open andclosed conditions.

To provide for efficient operation of the material storage apparatus l0,the carriage 30 is operable to close an open drawer of one storageassembly while simultaneously therewith opening a closed drawer of theother storage assembly. lf it is assumed that the carriage 30 is movingtoward the left as viewed in FIG. l, a drawer or tray 20a is beingpushed into the rack assembly 18 by the carriage 30 to move the drawer20a from the open condition to the closed condition. At the same time, adrawer 26a is being pulled out of the storage assembly 14 to move thedrawer 26a from the closed condition to the open condition to provideaccess to material 38 stored therein. Of course, movement of thecarriage 30 toward the right, as viewed in FIG. l, would result in thedrawer 20a being moved to the open condition while the drawer 26a isclosed. Thus, efficient operation of the material storage apparatus l0is promoted by the ability of the carriage 30 to open one drawer whileclosing another.

When the drawer 20a has been moved to the closed condition by thecarriage 30, the carriage is disconnected from the drawer 20a byoperating a coupling assembly 42 from an engaged or latched condition,illustrated in solid lines in FIGS. 3 and 4, to a released of disengagedcondition, illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 4. Another couplingassembly 42 mounted on the next one of the drawers 20 to be opened isthen operated to the engaged or latched condition of FIG. 3. Subsequentrightward movement of the carriage 30 results in the selected drawer 20being pulled to the open condition. A coupling assembly 42 is mounted ona forward or outer end member 46 of each of the drawers 20 and 26 sothat each of the drawers can be separately connected to the carriage 30and moved between the open and closed conditions. Of course, the drawers20 are connected to the left side of the carriage 30 (as viewed in FIG.l) while the drawers 26 are connected to the right side ofthe carriage.

Although it is contemplated that many different types of couplingassemblies could be used to connect the drawers 20 and 26 to thecarriage 30, the illustrated coupling assembly 42 includes a pair ofgenerally U-shaped connector members 48 which are pivotally connected at50 on the front member 46 of an associated drawer. The generallyU-shaped connector member 48 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) are pivotallyinterconnected by actuator rods 54 and 56. When the actuator rod 56 ispulled toward the left as viewed in FIG. 4, the connector member 48 ispivoted in a generally counterclockwise direction from the latched orretaining position shown in solid lines in FIG. 4 to the releasedposition shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4. The second connector member 48of the coupling assembly 42 is simultaneously pivoted to the releasedcondition by movement of the actuator rod 54. A suitable retaining means60 (see FIG. 2) is mounted on the front member 46 of the drawer toretain the actuator rod 56 against movement.

When it is desired to move a drawer 20 to the open condition, thecarriage 30 is moved toward the storage assembly 12 until support barsor members 64 mounted on the carriage are disposed immediately beneaththe front members on the drawers 20 (see FIG. 3). The coupling assembly42 on the selected drawer is then operated to the engaged condition bymerely releasing the associated actuator rod 56. The center of gravityof each of the connector members 48 is disposed outwardly of the pivotconnection 50 and causes the connector members to swing downwardly tothe latched condition. An inner arm 66 on each of the connector membersis then disposed immediately inside the front member 46 of the selecteddrawer while an outer arm 68 of the connector member is disposedforwardly of the support member 64 on the carriage 30. Subsequentmovement of the carriage 30 toward the right as viewed in FIGS. I and 2moves the support member 64 into abutting engagement with the arm 68 andenables the selected drawer 20 to be pulled outwardly toward the opencondition.

As the selected drawer is opened, a previously opened one of the drawers26 is closed by the movement of the carriage 30. lf one of the drawers26 is to be opened, the carriage 30 is moved to the right (as viewed inFIG. l). Once the carriage 30 is adjacent to the storage assembly I4,the coupling assembly 42 on the selected drawer 26 is latched to anassociated one ofthe support members 64 on the side ofthe carriageclosest to the storage assembly 14, i.e., the right side as viewed inFIG. l. The carriage 30 is then moved toward the left, as viewed in FIG.l, to open the selected drawer 26 while closing a previously open oneofthe drawers 20.'

The carriage 30 is moved relative to the tracks 32 and 34 to open andclose selected ones of the drawers 20 and 26 by operation of a driveassembly 70 (see FIGS. l and 5)A The drive assembly 70, in theillustrated embodiment of the invention, includes a cable drum 72 whichis rotated by operation of an electric motor and gear reduction unit 74mounted on the,

carriage 30. The electric motor in the unit 74 is connected with asuitable source of power by a flexible conductor 76 (see FIG. l).Suitable controls 78 are mounted on the storage assembly 14 to controlthe operation ofthe drive assembly 70. A cable 80 is secured at oppositeends to the floor adjacent to outer end portions of the storageassemblies l2 and 14, only one of the connections being illustrated at84 in FIG. 2. The cable 8() is wound around the drum 72 so that uponrotation of the drum 72 the carriage 30 is moved along the tracks 32 and34. When the drum 72 is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed inFIG. 5, the drum moves along the cable 80 to move the carriage 30 towardthe right. Conversely, when the drum 72 is rotated in a counterclockwisedirection as viewed in FIG. 5, the carriage is moved toward the left.

During outward movement of a selected drawer 20 toward the opencondition, side rails 88 and 90 of the drawer are supported by suitablerollers 92 mounted on upright frame members or posts 94 of the rackassembly 18 (see FIGS. 2 and 6). Although only one support roller 92 hasbeen shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of support rollers are mounted on eachpost 94 to provide adequate support for the drawers 20 (see FIG. 2). Inaddition, guide rollers 96 (FIG. 6) engage the side rails 90 on theselected drawer to prevent binding or cocking of the drawer as it isbeing moved relative to the rack assembly I8. It should be noted thatthe provision ofa pair ofconnector members 48 in each ofthe couplingassemblies 42 further promotes an even movement of the drawer 20outwardly without cocking or binding. This is because the couplingassemblies 42 interconnect two spaced apart portions of the carriage 30and the selected drawer.

Once a selected drawer 20 has been moved to the open condition, theforward end portion of the drawer is supported on one ofthe supportmembers 64 on the carriage 30 (see FIGS. l and 3) while the inner ortrailing end of the drawer is supported by rollers 92 mounted on theforward or outer posts 94 of the rack assembly I8. The distance betweenthe storage assemblies l2 and I4 is somewhat less than the combinedlength of the drawer 20 and the length of the carriage 30, indicated at100 in FIG. 2, so that substantially the entire length of the drawer isexposed to provide easy access to the material 38 while preventing thedrawer from being pulled completely out of the rack assembly 18. Aladder 104 is advantageously provided on the carriage 30 so that anoperator can readily climb onto and open one of the upper drawers 20 or26 to secure a chain or other suitable connecting means from an overheadcrane (not shown) to the material 38 or to assist in releasing materialto be deposited in the drawer by the overhead crane.

Once the desired material 38 has been removed from and/or additionalmaterial has been deposited in the open drawer 20, the operation ofthedrive assembly 70 is reversed to close the drawer 20 and open a selectedone of the drawers 26. During this inward movement, the drawer 20 ispositioned or centered relative to the posts 94 of the rack assembly I8by engagement of cam sections 108 (FIG. 2) on the inner end of thedrawer 20 with the guide rollers 96. When the drawer 20 reaches theclosed condition, an actuator member 112 on the carriage 30 actuates alimit switch H4 to interrupt operation of the drive assembly 70. Inaddition, a stop member il@ (FIG. 2) on the drawer 20 engages one of theposts 94 to stop the inward movement of the drawer. Although theconstruction and operation of the storage assembly I4 has not been setforth herein as fully as has the construction and operation of thestorage assembly l2` it should be understood that their constructionsand operations are the same.

In view of the foregoing remarks, it can be seen that the materialstorage apparatus l0 includes a pair of rack assemblies 18 and 24 whichopen toward each other and are adapted to hold a plurality of drawers ortrays 20 and 26. The drawers 20 and 26 are movable between a closedcondition within the rack assemblies and an open condition extendingoutwardly from the rack assemblies by a carriage 30 which moves alongtracks 32 and 34 under the influence ofa cable drive assembly 70. Thecarriage is movable from a position adjacent one of the storageassemblies, for example the storage assembly I4, to a position adjacentthe other storage assembly, for example the storage assembly l2, to movean open drawer 20 to the closed condition within the rack assembly 18and to simultaneously therewith move a closed drawer 26 to the opencondition extending outwardly from the rack assembly 24. Of course,movement of the carriage 30 in the opposite direction will move a drawer20 to the open condition and/or close one ofthe drawers 26.

Although the drawers 20 and 26 have been illustrated herein as beingadapted to hold generally flat sheets ofmaterial 38, it should beunderstood that the drawers could be adapted to store many differenttypes ofmaterials such as containers or pipes. In addition, it iscontemplated that other known couplings could be substituted for thespecific coupling assembly 42 disclosed herein. It is also contemplatedthat the construction ofthe cable drive assembly 70 may be varied, forexample a rack and pinion drive might be used to move the carriage 30relative to the storage assemblies l2 and 14.

Having described a preferred embodiment of my invention, the following Iclaim:

l. Apparatus for storing materials, said apparatus comprising a pair ofrack assemblies disposed in a spaced apart relationship and openingtoward each other, a plurality of drawers in each of said rackassemblies for holding materials, said drawers being movable between aclosed condition within said rack assemblies and an open conditionextending outwardly from said rack assemblies, and carriage meansmovable between said rack assemblies for moving an open drawer of one ofsaid rack assemblies toward the closed condition and for simultaneouslytherewith moving a closed drawer of the other rack assembly toward theopen condition.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim l further including drive means formoving said carriage means relative to said rack assemblies, said drivemeans including cable means having one end portion fixedly securedadjacent to said one rack assembly and an opposite end portion fixedlysecured adjacent to said other rack assembly, a cable drum mounted onsaid carriage means, and motor means mounted on said carriage means forrotating said cable drum, said cable means extending around said cabledrum whereby rotation of said cable drum by said motor means moves saidcarriage means relative to said rack assemblies.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim I wherein said carriage meansincludes means for supportingly engaging outer end portions of saiddrawers while said drawers are in the open condition, said rackassemblies being spaced apart by a distance which is less than thecombined extent of one of said drawers and said carriage means in adirection parallel to their direction of movement whereby inner endportions of said drawers are supported by said rack assemblies when saiddrawers are in a fully open condition.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim l further including a first set ofcoupling means for selectively connecting the drawers in said one rackassembly to one side of said carriage means and a second set of couplingmeans for selectively connecting the drawers in said other rack assemblyto the opposite side ofsaid carriage means.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim l further including ladder meansmounted on said carriage means for enabling an operator of saidapparatus to have ready access to materials stored in upper ones of saiddrawers when they are in the open condition.

6. Apparatus as set forth in Claim l further including track meansextending between said rack assemblies for guiding movement of saidcarriage means.

7. Apparatus for storing materials` said apparatus comprising a pair ofrack assemblies disposed in a spaced apart relationship and openingtoward each other` a plurality ofdrawers slidably mounted in each ofsaid rack assemblies for movement between a closed condition within saidrack assemblies and an open condition extending outwardly of said rackassemblies, track means extending between said rack assemblies, carriagemeans movable between said rack assemblies said said track means, afirst coupling means for connecting a selected one of the drawers in oneof said rack assemblies with one side of said carriage means, a secondcoupling means for connecting a selected one of the drawers in the otherof said rack assemblies with a side of said carriage means opposite fromsaid one side, and drive means connected to said carriage means andoperable in a first direction to move said carriage means along saidtrack means toward said one rack assembly and away from said other rackassembly to move a drawer connected to the one side of said carriagemeans by said first coupling means toward the closed condition withinsaid one rack assembly and to simultaneously therewith move a drawerconnected to the opposite side of said carriage means by said secondcoupling means toward the open condition extending outwardly from saidother rack assembly, said drive means being operable in a seconddirection to move said carriage means along said track means toward saidother rack assembly and away from said one rack assembly to move adrawer connected to the one side of said carriage means by said firstcoupling means toward the open condition extending outwardly from saidone rack assembly and to simultaneously therewith move a drawerconnected to the opposite side of said carriage means by said secondcoupling means toward the closed condition within said other rackassembly.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said drive means includes amotor and cable drum mounted on said carriage means and cable meansf'lxedly secured adjacent to said rack assemblies at opposite endportions and extending around said cable drum` said motor beingconnected with said cable drum and operable to rotate said cable drum tothereby effect movement of said carriage means relative to said rackassemblies.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said first and secondcoupling means are each operable to interconnect said carriage means anda selected drawer at two locations along the front of the drawer topromote even movement of the drawer relative to the associated rackassembly.

l0. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 further including ladder meansmounted on said carriage means for enabling an operator of saidapparatus to reach material stored in uppermost ones ofsaid drawers.

1. Apparatus for storing materials, said apparatus comprising a pair ofrack assemblies disposed in a spaced apart relationship and openingtoward each other, a plurality of drawers in each of said rackassemblies for holding materials, said drawers being movable between aclosed condition within said rack assemblies and an open conditionextending outwardly from said rack assemblies, and carriage meansmovable between said rack assemblies for moving an open drawer of one ofsaid rack assemblies toward the closed condition and for simultaneouslytherewith moving a closed drawer of the other rack assembly toward theopen condition.
 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further includingdrive means for moving said carriage means relative to said rackassemblies, said drive means including cable means having one endportion fixedly secured adjacent to said one rack assembly and anopposite end portion fixedly secured adjacent to said other rackassembly, a cable drum mounted on said carriage means, and motor meansmounted on said carriage means for rotating said cable drum, said cablemeans extending around said cable drum whereby rotation of said cabledrum by said motor means moves said carriage means relative to said rackassemblies.
 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said carriagemeans includes means for supportingly engaging outer end portions ofsaid drawers while said drawers are in the open condition, said rackassemblies being spaced apart by a distance which is less than thecombined extent of one of said drawers and said carriage means in adirection parallel to their direction of movement whereby inner endportions of said drawers are supported by said rack assemblies when saiddrawers are in a fully open condition.
 4. Apparatus as set forth inclaim 1 further including a first set of coupling means for selectivelyconnecting the drawers in said one rack assembly to one side of saidcarriage means and a second set of coupling means for selectivelyconnecting the drawers in said other rack assembly to the opposite sideof said carriage means.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 furtherincluding ladder means mounted on said carriage means for enabling anoperator of said apparatus to have ready access to materials stored inupper ones of said drawers when they are in the open condition. 6.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further including track meansextending between said rack assemblies for guiding movement of saidcarriage means.
 7. Apparatus for storing materials, said apparatuscomprising a pair of rack assemblies disposed in a spaced apartrelationship and opening toward each other, a plurality of drawersslidably mounted in each of said rack assemblies for movement between aclosed condition within said rack assemblies and an open conditionextending outwardly of said rack assemblies, track means extendingbetween said rack assemblies, carriage means movable between said rackassemblies said said track means, a first coupling means for connectinga selected one of the drawers in one of said rack assemblies with oneside of said carriage means, a second coupling means for connecting aselected one of the drawers in the other of said rack assemblies with aside of said carriage means opposite from said one side, and drive meansconnected to said carriage means and operable in a first direction tomove said carriage means along said track means toward said one rackassembly and away from said other rack assembly to move a drawerconnected to the one side of said carriage means by said first couplingmeans toward the closed condition within said one rack assembly and tosimultaneously therewith move a drawer connected to the opposite side ofsaid carriage means by said second coupling means toward the opencondition extending outwardly from said other rack assembly, said drivemeans being operable in a second direction to move said carriage meansalong said track means toward said other rack assembly and away fromsaid one rack assembly to move a drawer connected to the one side ofsaid carriage means by said first coupling means toward the opencondition extending outwardly from said one rack assembly and tosimultaneously therewith move a drawer connected to the opposite side ofsaid carriage means by said second coupling means toward the closedcondition within said other rack assembly.
 8. Apparatus as set forth inclaim 7 wherein said drive means includes a motor and cable drum mountedon said carriage means and cable means fixedly secured adjacent to saidrack assemblies at opposite end portions and extending around said cabledrum, said motor being connected with said cable drum and operable torotate said cable drum to thereby effect movement of said carriage meansrelative to said rack assemblies.
 9. An apparatus as set forth in claim7 wherein said first and second coupling means are each operable tointerconnect said carriage means and a selected drawer at two locationsalong the front of the drawer to promote even movement of the drawerrelative to the associated rack assembly.
 10. An apparatus as set forthin claim 7 further including ladder means mounted on said carriage meansfor enabling an operator of said apparatus to reach material stored inuppermost ones of said drawers.